Toni, my wife, reminded me of a great lesson in business, ok in life too. As great as Toni is one-on-one as a clinical psychologist, she, like so many others, does not like public speaking. She decided that in 2008 she would have the courage to conquer her fear once and for all. So she put together a presentation, on her Master’s dissertation, and called it the Psychology of Winning. She presented her topic at one of Raizcorp’s Viewpoint sessions. The content was wonderful and rich, but the delivery was not exactly great. Most people would have given up there, writing off speaking as “I’m not good at that!” But she did not stop there. She approached someone to train her to get her talk clearer and more entertaining. Once again, she spoke at the Raizcorp CEO breakfast and, despite my obvious biases, I honestly believe it was a world-class delivery.

So what happened from the time she decided to conquer her fear? She has now received a paying assignment to speak in four cities across the country, a possible profile in a magazine, and two other possible talks lined up, including one overseas. One decision - hard work, courage - and massive reward …

This reminds me of the courage we need as entrepreneurs. We need to face our fears, pick up that phone and the universe will reward us in buckets.